


The Crowded Brownstone

by Quipxotic



Category: Doctor Who (1963), Elementary (TV)
Genre: Cosplay, Doctor Who References, Ficlet, Fifth Doctor Era, Fluff, Gen, Undercover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-27
Updated: 2016-11-27
Packaged: 2018-09-02 12:46:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8668192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quipxotic/pseuds/Quipxotic
Summary: Sherlock has a plan for investigating a new case, but he hasn’t clued Watson in on her role yet.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NairobiWonders](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NairobiWonders/gifts).



As Joan walked by the door to the brownstone’s library, she caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye. She stopped and backed up to stare into the room.

“Sherlock?”

He didn’t look up from the case files he had spread out on the floor. “Hmmm?” 

“Did you dye your hair?” 

“Obviously, Watson.”

She leaned against the door frame, a slight smile on her face. “Okay, let me rephrase. Why did you dye your hair blonde?”

He still didn’t look up, but with one hand he ruffled his newly dyed hair self-consciously. “Do you remember the Hazel Chavez case?”

Joan pursed her lips as she searched her memory. “The cosplayer with the stalker problem? Yeah, what about it?” 

“There’s a convention in town this weekend and I will be attending undercover to help identify her stalker.”

“Convention?” Joan frowned in confusion, but then she realized what he meant. “Comic Con. You’re going to Comic Con?!” Joan threw her head back and laughed.

Sherlock finally looked up to frown at her. “And why is that funny?”

“Sorry, sorry,” Joan replied, catching her breath, “I just have a hard time imagining you there. Wait, you said that you’re going undercover, right? Does that mean you’re going in costume?”

“Obviously.”

Joan tried to remain serious but couldn’t contain her grin. “Who as?”

“Well actually…” Sherlock began, only to be interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. “Ah, that should be the costumes.”

Joan frowned again as Sherlock leaped up and raced past her to answer the door. “Wait, costumes? As in multiple? Why…” 

Sherlock opened the door and ushered in a young woman who Joan knew very well. Marta Jameson, Marcus Bell’s cousin, entered the brownstone carrying several garment bags. “Hi Joan! Are you excited?” 

“Marta? Hi! What are you doing here and why should I be excited?” Joan asked as she stepped out of the way to let Marta and Sherlock walk into the library. 

Marta carefully placed the garment bags on the couch. “About Comic Con, of course! I brought your costume, and one for me and Sherlock, obviously. Going undercover! It’s so exciting!”

“My costume?” Joan frowned and turned to Sherlock, arms crossed, waiting for an explanation. 

“Well, I thought, given that you are something of a subject specialist in this area, that your involvement and insight would be invaluable.”

“So you volunteered me for this without asking me? Is that the gist of it?” She was getting angry now.

Marta looked uncomfortable. “Should I leave? Give you two a moment to discuss this…”

Sherlock bounced slightly and leaned over to whisper to Marta. “Show her the costumes.” He picked up one garment bag, held it up in front of him, and waited. Marta looked between Sherlock and Joan hesitantly but, after Joan rolled her eyes and motioned her to continue, she unzipped the bag and pulled it free of the costume. Sherlock was left holding a hanger on which hung a cream sweater with a red strip around the v-neck, a beige coat, and a cream and red striped pair of pants. Joan recognized it instantly. 

“The Doctor,” she said in complete wonderment. “You’re going as the Fifth Doctor? Really? I thought you hated _Doctor Who_?

“I never said I hated it, just that it was ridiculous,” Sherlock corrected her. “But, in this situation, it will be useful insofar as it allows me to blend in for the purposes of the case. And, since both you and Ms. Jameson are experts in this area, it would be helpful if you both attended with me in order to help me through any details about the character that I don’t already know.”

Joan opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again. “But you could have been the Tenth Doctor and then you wouldn’t have had to dye your hair,” she said at last.

Sherlock’s smile flattered. “Well yes, but…”

“He asked me which Doctor you liked the best so I told him the Fifth,” Marta finished for him. “Did I guess wrong?”

Joan was dumbfounded. She couldn’t decide whether to be angry that he hadn’t run this past her first or flattered that he’d clearly gone to great lengths with her interests in mind. Finally she decided on a different tactic. “What are the other costumes?”

“Ah,” said Marta, clearly relieved that the disagreement seemed to be over, “wait until you see…” She unzipped both of the remaining garment bags and held up the two costumes. One was a purple 1980s Air Australia stewardess uniform and the other was a high-collared, red velvet suit. “I thought you’d be more a Nyssa than a Tegan, but if you’d rather have the Tegan I’d be glad to be Nyssa.”

Joan stared at the costumes for a moment and then glanced at the faces of Marta and Sherlock. They both looked so excited.

“First of all,” Joan said at last, “while I appreciate all the effort you’ve both gone through, I’m not wearing either of those costumes. But,” she held up her hands to stop their objections, “I think I have a dress that could pass as Tegan circa ‘Warriors of the Deep.’ I would be willing to wear that, but first I need more details about exactly what you have planned, Sherlock.”

“By all means,” Sherlock said, grinning. He gestured for them to look at the files on the floor. 

“And I am definitely getting pictures of you in that costume,” Joan added as she stepped further into the room to join them. “Many, many pictures…” 

**Author's Note:**

> I was trying to come up with an in-story reason for Jonny Lee Miller's blonde hair when this idea occurred to me. Since then I've been trying to work it into "[Wanderers in the Fourth Dimension…of the Brownstone](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7094443/chapters/16122277)" but I've finally given up and made it its own ficlet. Dedicated to NairobiWonders because her reblogs of _Trainspotting 2_ photos inspired the idea in the first place.


End file.
